The Other Tam

Verona, Wisconsin, January 2015. Here is the second tam I completed this month.

Tam season returns.

Verona, Wisconsin, January 2015. I usually knit a couple of tams every winter. This one is the first of two I recently completed. This is Janine Bajus's "Foggy Cove" design.

A Matched Set

Last year, I posted a photo of a fair-isle tam that I knitted for a friend's birthday. Although I generally don't like to knit small things—namely, socks and mittens—I sometimes make tams for birthday gifts or as gestures of friendship. 

I recently expanded my pool of giftable items: I designed a cowl to match one of the tams that I had knitted last year. Here is the result:

Verona, Wisconsin, January 2013. I didn't decrease the number of stitches to achieve the narrowing at the top; instead, I reduced needle sizes, moving from a 3.5mm at the bottom to a 2.5mm at the top of the piece. When I blocked the cowl, I also soaked the top four inches in a cup of boiling water to narrow it further.

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Verona, Wisconsin, January 2013.  I used nine shades of undyed (natural sheep colors) Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift. I bought the yarn from Janine Bajus, the Feral Knitter.

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Madison, Wisconsin, January 2013. The cowl meets the tam. My Mom thought the cowl looked like a micro-mini skirt!

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Althouse models the matched set (photo by Meade).

Rocky-Mountain Tam

Verona, Wisconsin, January 2013. The design of this tam is identical to two tams I knitted last year; see here and here. All I did was rework the color palette. This tam has reached its recipient, who tomorrow celebrates a birthday in Colorado.

Same-Tam-Same-Year Reunion

Verona, Wisconsin, January 2012. Another tam has landed safely at its new home. This fair-isle tam features the same design as one I recently finished, but I again reworked the colors.

Tam-Has-Landed Reunion

Verona, Wisconsin, January 2012. A finished fair-isle tam; it measures eleven inches in diameter.

UPDATE ONE: I wrote about the planning of this tam here.

UPDATE TWO: The tam is an adaptation of this pattern.

It's pretty windy and icy for a New Year's Day walk!

Dad nonetheless decided to take me out for an airing. 

Suburban Chicago, January 1, 1959. I'm bundled up, ready to confront the elements.